Vendor prices and setup steps, checked November 4, 2026
Guests scan a code at the table, order and pay on their own phone, and the ticket prints in your kitchen with the table on it. Here is what Square, Clover, Toast and sunday charge for it, what each one needs first, and how to set it up without confusing guests or staff.
How it works
Square and Clover describe the same five steps. What changes from one system to the next is what you must already own and what each step costs.
Steps from Square's QR code ordering page, its setup article and Clover's Scan to Order page, checked November 4, 2026. Clover lists the same flow as print, place, scan, order, serve and pay.
Know what you are buying
Vendors use the word QR for three different things. Only the third one takes the order off your servers.
| What the code does | The guest | Your kitchen |
|---|---|---|
| QR code menu | Reads the menu on their phone, then orders from a server. | Nothing changes. A server still keys the order in. |
| QR code payment | Scans a code on the receipt and pays the check. | Nothing changes for ordering. Only the payment step moves to the phone. |
| QR code ordering | Scans, builds the order, adds notes and pays from the phone. | The order lands on the POS and the kitchen printer or screen, tagged with its table or spot. |
Both payment and ordering are sold separately. On Square's restaurant plans, QR code payments on receipts are a feature of the paid plans, and Clover's restaurant bundles list Scan-to-Pay (a QR code on the receipt) next to "Contactless dining (QR-code order & pay)". When a sales rep says "we do QR", ask which of the three they mean.
Cost
From $49 a month per location on Square Plus to $299 a month on sunday Premium, plus card fees on every order. Clover adds no fee for it but needs its own hardware, sold in full-service bundles from $179 a month, and Toast does not print a price.
| System | What you need first | Monthly price | Card rate | Other charges and limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square Plus | Square POS and a Square Online ordering page | $49 per location | 2.9% + 30¢ online | Optional service fee you set on QR orders |
| Square Premium | Square POS and a Square Online ordering page | $149 per location | 2.9% + 30¢ online | Optional service fee you set on QR orders |
| Clover Scan to Order | A Clover Station, Station Pro, Mini or Flex with a printer, on an eligible plan | No extra fee for Scan to Order; full-service bundles $179, $239 or $354 for 36 months | 2.3% + 10¢ in person; 3.5% + 10¢ typed in or online | Not on Payments Plus, Register or Register Lite plans |
| Toast Mobile Order & Pay | Toast POS on Toast-approved hardware | No price printed on the product page | Not printed on the pages checked | Hardware and implementation are the upfront costs |
| sunday Standard | Your POS (ask sunday which ones it connects to) | $199 | Not printed on the pricing page | $5 per QR code; optional $299 physical onboarding |
| sunday Premium | Your POS (ask sunday which ones it connects to) | $299 | Not printed on the pricing page | $5 per QR code; physical onboarding included |
Checked November 4, 2026 on Square's plans page ($0, $49 and $149 per location; online card payments 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium; QR code ordering listed on Plus), Square's help article (for Plus and Premium subscribers), Clover Scan to Order ("Easy setup and no fees"), Clover's full-service restaurant pricing ($179, $239 and $354 a month for 36 months; 2.3% + 10¢ tapped, swiped or inserted and 3.5% + 10¢ typed in, which Clover's pricing FAQ applies when the card is not present, like an online sale), Toast Mobile Order & Pay, Toast pricing and sunday pricing. sunday's page does not say whether the $5 per code or the $299 onboarding is one-time. For Clover plan prices and card rates, see our Clover POS pricing guide.
Square prints a flat per-location fee and an online card rate with no hardware bundle, so it is the simplest to total. Assume 500 QR orders a month at a $35 check, our example rather than an industry figure.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| 500 card payments of $35 at 2.9% + 30¢ | $657.50 |
| Square Plus subscription, one location | $49.00 |
| Month on Square Plus | $706.50 |
| Same orders on Square Premium ($149) | $806.50 |
Each $35 payment costs $1.32 at 2.9% + 30¢, so the card fees are more than thirteen times the Plus subscription. That is why the monthly price is the smaller decision. The bigger ones are whether you must change your POS, and what happens to your card rate if you do. Card fees per order on each POS are in our restaurant credit card processing fees guide.
Your POS decides
With Clover and Toast, yes, if you are not on them already. With Square, you need Square POS and a paid plan.
If you are happy on your POS, price the QR option it already sells first; Clover's adds no fee. If you are not, compare before you print, because a code printed for one system opens that system's ordering page. Our best POS system for restaurants guide lists what ten systems publish.
Setup
Eight steps, in order. Most of them are decisions you make once; the setup screens follow from them.
Square steps from its help center article; Clover details from its Scan to Order page, checked November 4, 2026.
Where it fits
The same code does a different job at a full-service table, a counter and a parking spot.
Before you sign
Orderitto
Orderitto is online ordering software for restaurants. Its digital menu page says customers can add modifiers and check out directly from the menu on web, QR code, or your branded app, so the same menu serves dine-in codes, pickup and your website.
Orderitto's plans start at $149 a month after a $799 setup, with no per-order commission. Restaurants handle Stripe directly, which Orderitto's pricing page says is typically 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction. Bring your table count and your POS to a demo and ask how dine-in QR ordering would run in your restaurant.
Book a demoWhy the code should open a menu that takes the order, not a PDF.
When a kiosk earns its cost and when the guest's phone is enough.
What a $35 order costs in card fees on Toast, Square, Clover and Stripe.
Setup and monthly prices for each Orderitto plan.
On published prices checked November 4, 2026: Square includes QR code ordering on Plus at $49 a month per location and Premium at $149, with online card payments at 2.9% + 30¢. Clover charges no extra fee for Scan to Order but needs a Clover POS device on an eligible plan. sunday lists $199 and $299 a month plus $5 per QR code. Toast prints no price for Mobile Order & Pay.
Not among the systems checked here. Square's help center says QR code ordering is for Square Online Plus and Premium and Square Plus and Premium subscribers, not the Free plan. Clover says Scan to Order has no extra fees, but it needs a Clover POS device and an eligible Clover plan. A free QR code generator makes the code, not the ordering page behind it.
Not on Square or Clover. Square says the code opens your ordering page, where guests order, add notes and pay. Clover says the code opens your online menu, where guests order and pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Each code is tied to a table or spot. Square maps every code to one table, walk-up window or parking spot, and orders print on your POS and kitchen printer or show on a kitchen display. Clover prints the table number on the order receipt, but codes printed from its Register app carry customer names instead.
On Toast, yes: Toast says servers and guests can start and add to the same tab. Square says it can consolidate orders from the same table into a single kitchen ticket. Ask any other system how it handles a second round before you sign.
On Square, yes. Its help center says you can charge an optional service fee on QR code orders and keep the amount, minus standard processing fees. Check your state and local rules on how a service fee must be shown to guests.
A QR code menu only shows the menu, so a server still takes the order. QR code ordering lets the guest build the order, pay and send it to the kitchen from their own phone. A code that opens a PDF is a menu, not an ordering system.
Yes. Square says a code can map to a walk-up window or parking spot, or one shared code can ask guests to type their spot, which it suggests for large events and stadiums. Square's page also quotes a food truck owner who uses it so guests can order without coming outside.
See how one Orderitto menu takes dine-in QR orders, pickup and website orders, and what it costs for your restaurant.